


Katara Has Nightmares Too

by IzzeFire



Series: ZK Drabble December 2020 [7]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Post-Episode: s03e16 The Southern Raiders, Protective Zuko (Avatar), let katara get some comfort too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28381431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IzzeFire/pseuds/IzzeFire
Summary: Katara suffers from nightmares and finds comfort from an unlikely source.Written for Zutara Drabble December Day 22: Stay?
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: ZK Drabble December 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045251
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50
Collections: ZK Drabble December 2020





	Katara Has Nightmares Too

**Author's Note:**

> This is for everyone having a bad day... enjoy some shameless and fluffy hurt/comfort

Katara sat bolt upright in her tent with a gasp. The blue canvas walls unnerved her for a moment, they looked so similar to the tent where…

She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself before anyone else woke up. Nightmares were a fairly common occurrence for her, and even after facing Yon Rha, the day she lost her mother still crept into her dreams from time to time. She pulled her blanket over her face and cried quietly into it.

“Katara?” came a quiet voice from outside.

She hurriedly wiped away her tears and pushed open the entrance to her tent to see Zuko crouched outside. “Zuko?” she asked. “What are you doing up?”

“I couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk… Are you ok?”

“Just a nightmare, nothing to worry about,” Katara whispered.

His expression softened and he carefully reached out to touch her shoulder. “You can talk about it if you want. It can be hard to deal with them by yourself.” He looked down. “Trust me, I know.”

She looked up at him. “You too?”

He nodded.

Katara wasn’t sure which one of them moved first, but somehow she ended up with her arms wrapped around Zuko’s waist, and his around her shoulders. She wanted to tell him to go back to sleep, that she was fine, but… she didn’t want him to leave. She was so used to coping on her own, silently letting out her emotions while the others slept, that this warm and comforting embrace was something she never wanted to let go. “Thank you,” she whispered into his shirt. She pulled away slightly and met his eyes. “Do you want to come in?”

He nodded and crawled after her into the tent. She sat close to him, shoulder to shoulder. “What do you dream about?” she asked, not wanting to talk right away.

She felt him take a deep breath. “My father, mostly. The day he- The day I was banished. And sometimes my mother, too, when she disappeared.”

Katara’s heart clenched at that. After his betrayal, she’d assumed he talked about his mother to manipulate her and gain her pity, but he had been honest. Zuko never talked about his mother, but Katara had the sense that he had been close with her. She reached across to embrace him again. 

“I have nightmares about my mom too, it’s always that day I told you about… when I came back into that tent and…” Tears were beginning to leak from her eyes again, and she buried her face in Zuko’s shirt, hoping he wouldn’t notice.

“It’s ok, you don’t have to say it,” he said softly, patting her back. They sat like that for a long time, no words exchanged, simply taking comfort in each other’s embrace.

“We should probably try to get some more sleep,” Katara eventually murmured against Zuko’s chest.

She felt him nod as he stood to leave, but she caught him by the wrist. “Wait, Zuko… could you… stay?”

He knelt back down. “Sure, I can stay.”

Katara laid back down, and felt him curl up next to her. She was powerful, a waterbending master and warrior, and yet… something about the feeling of sleeping next to someone else, next to Zuko, felt so safe, so comforting.

Little did she know, but he felt exactly the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all like this!
> 
> My tumblr is @spicyswordlady, come say hi


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